Pleiades Offer a Mid-November Stargazing Target

The Pleiades, also known as Messier 45 or the Seven Sisters, rise in the east during early evening in mid-November and climb higher later at night. Six stars commonly stand out to the naked eye under reasonably dark conditions.

Key details

• The cluster sits in the constellation Taurus and contains about 1,000 stars.
• The Pleiades lie approximately 444 light-years from Earth, and their stars are about 100 million years old.
• Observers with keen eyesight and darker skies may see more than six stars.
• The Hyades cluster lies closer to the Sun, and its stars are about 625 million years old.
• Mars and Jupiter were predicted to appear just over 1 degree apart overnight November 15–16, 2026.
• The Moon was described as waxing toward first quarter around November 17, 2026.
• The Leonid meteor shower was predicted to peak on the night of November 17–18, 2026.
• The Kids asterism near Capella in Auriga comprises Epsilon, Zeta, and Eta Aurigae.

The Pleiades contain about 1,000 stars, though observers commonly see six without a telescope.

Why it matters

The Pleiades offer a naked-eye target, while the Hyades provide a nearby comparison in the same broader region of the sky. Mid-November also brings several other listed observing events, including a close apparent pairing of Mars and Jupiter and the Leonid peak.